Club K-Dramahttps://clubkdrama.wordpress.com
Everything about Korean DramasWed, 14 Feb 2018 08:48:18 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://s2.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.pngClub K-Dramahttps://clubkdrama.wordpress.com
Details Emerge About the New Hong Sisters Dramahttps://clubkdrama.wordpress.com/2015/02/12/details-emerge-about-the-new-hong-sisters-drama/
https://clubkdrama.wordpress.com/2015/02/12/details-emerge-about-the-new-hong-sisters-drama/#commentsThu, 12 Feb 2015 18:58:39 +0000http://clubkdrama.wordpress.com/?p=135Continue reading Details Emerge About the New Hong Sisters Drama]]>More details have emerged about the new Hong Sisters drama. The working title is Jejudo Island Gatsby and it will be set on Jeju Island (duh). Originally the plot was about characters who time-travelled back and forth 100 years, however that plan was scrapped. At this point the only things that are known for sure is that it will be a romance and the location.
]]>https://clubkdrama.wordpress.com/2015/02/12/details-emerge-about-the-new-hong-sisters-drama/feed/1minafriendKill Me, Heal Me Ep 3-4 Recaphttps://clubkdrama.wordpress.com/2015/02/12/kill-me-heal-me-ep-3-4-recap/
https://clubkdrama.wordpress.com/2015/02/12/kill-me-heal-me-ep-3-4-recap/#respondThu, 12 Feb 2015 18:37:19 +0000http://clubkdrama.wordpress.com/?p=87Continue reading Kill Me, Heal Me Ep 3-4 Recap]]>Episode 3

This episode starts out with the introduction of a new personality, Perry Park. As soon as Park emerges he goes to the closet to the look for his clothes while Secretary Gook explains the dire situation they’re in right now. Park/Do-Hyun is supposed to be at an extremely important meeting but there’s also the hostage situation involving Ri-Jin. As Park is changing into a floral button-up shirt his phone rings and it’s the gangster who has taken Ri-Jin hostage. He reiterates his demands to Park who doesn’t seem to care about it at all until he mentions the girl they’ve captured. This seems to do the trick and Park leaves to go find them. Meanwhile, Secretary Gook delivers a message to the meeting that Do-Hyun was involved in a car wreck and won’t be able to attend.

At the abandoned warehouse where Ri-Jin is being held captive, tied to a chair and fully duck taped so she can’t talk, the gangsters are having a rehearsal fight so they won’t get beaten again. Suddenly Park enters carrying two home made bombs. Apparently Perry Park was a mechanic/demolitions expert. The gangsters again ask for the jacket, the whole time Ri-Jin is trying to tell him that he doesn’t have it and that her brother does but obviously they can’t hear her. (I guess at some point her brother took it from her dad.) Park tosses one of the bombs at the gangsters and they all duck for cover but as the timer counts down nothing happens except the bomb says that the rice is ready. Park wonders if it didn’t explode because he used a timer from a rice cooker. All of the gangsters promptly beat him down and toss him and Ri-Jin into a room. Inside, Ri-Jin’s phone rings and its her brother texting her a picture of him wearing the jacket. The gangsters force Ri-Jin to get her brother to tell her where he is and they leave to go beat him up and take the jacket.

A little while later Do-Hyun wakes up and is able to untie himself from the chair because of past experiences waking up in situations like this. Ri-Jin tells him about Se-Gi and how he told her that he fell for her. The two devise a way to escape by having Ri-Jin start screaming so the guard the gangsters left will open the door. He does so and the two escape but not before the guard is able to get Ri-Jin. As this is going on the other bomb that Park brought begins to count down. Do-Hyun grabs it and says he’s going to throw it at the guard who doesn’t believe it’s real because of what happened with the last bomb. Do-Hyun convinces him it is real and he throws Ri-Jin at Do-Hyun which causes him to drop the bomb. The two barely manage to escape before the bomb actually does explode.

Meanwhile, Ri-Jin’s brother Ri-On is having a party when the gangsters show up based on what they got Ri-Jin to say. Ri-On brings out the jacket and the gangster again tries to get it but not before he tears open the jacket revealing the drugs inside. The gangsters are just about to attack when it turns out the people Ri-On is hanging out with are all police.

At the warehouse, Ri-Jin and Do-Hyun manage to escape as the warehouse is exploding around them. It’s a bit of a cheesy action scene as they escape on a motorcycle with explosions everywhere. As they’re driving it shows Ri-Jin wrap her arms aroud Do-Hyun. He takes her to the hospital where he apologizes for every thing happened and especially for her having met him. The whole time she passes in and out of consciousness.

At ID, Young-Pyo is pushing to end the meeting when suddenly Do-Hyun enters. He goes on to give a great speech while Young-Pyo and Ki-Joon smirk and make various stupid faces. Ki-Joon notices that Do-Hyun is bleeding from his hand.

After the meeting Do-Hyun’s grandmother reams him pretty hard about showing up late to his first board meeting. She reminds him about the people who are desperately trying to take his position. She also says he needs to keep his position until her son can take over. It then shows a mystery person in a coma somewhere but you can’t see his face.

Meanwhile Ri-Jin’s mother calls Ri-Jin in the hospital and tells her she’s going to make her food. Ri-Jin says not to bother but her mom assures her it’s only the size of chicken’s eye. Ri-On later shows up at their parents house and sees that they’ve made a feast. He says he’s too embarrassed to take it to the hospital so their dad says he will. Ri-On ends up going to the hospital any way and the two again discuss about people having different personalities.

At work Do-Hyun and Cha-Yeon meet and Cha-Yeon comes on pretty strong. She mentions how earlier when Do-Hyun was warning her about Se-Gi and how there’s a line they can’d cross. She flat out tells him that they should cross that line because she’s curious to see if she’ll beat him up or cross it with him but Do-Hyun shoots her down saying he’s not someone she can handle.

Secretary An is meeting with Dr. Ho-Pil who tells him that Do-Hyun needs to resume treatment immediately but An says he can’t because of his position as Vice President. An asks if there’s anyone who could be Do-Hyun’s secret physician when suddenly Ri-Jin comes in. An leaves and Ri-Jin says she wants to go back to work and also mentions she’s met Se-Gi. She and Dr. Ho then have a conversation about Do-Hyun/Se-Gi and his myriad problems. Ho mentions he never uncovered Do-Hyun’s past memories.

The episode ends with Ri-Jin and Do-Hyun meeting in the hospital parking lot and both realizing they know the truth about either. Ri-Jin knows about Do-Hyun’s personalities and he knows she’s actually a psychiatrist through a previous conversation with An plus seeing Ri-Jin just capture Sook-Hee again.

Episode 4

Episode 4 begins with all the doctors in the hospital clamoring to get a look at the Ri-Jin with Do-Hyun who they all thought she had basically paid for him to date her but broke if off two hours in. Ri-Jin then has him go inside and say different things to her colleagues to repair her reputation, including the doctor he roughed earlier as Se-Gi.

Ki-Joon has instructed one of his minions to search every hospital in Seoul to find out if Do-Hyun has been to any of them. His minion reports back that he hasn’t exactly found him but that he has found people who think they’ve seen him. He also has found that Secretary An has been seen talking with Dr. Ho. Ki-Joon smiles evilly at this.

Back in the hospital Ri-Jin and Do-Hyun are talking. He asks her if Se-Gi asked her for any favors and she says he wanted her to hang out with him. Then Do-Hyun asks if he asked her for any favors as a doctor. She says no but he was disappointed when he found out she was doctor and that they might have a bad fate. Do-Hyun begins to realize that Ri-Jin is who Se-Gi is in love with because he acts in a way he never has before. He then has this weird mental thing where he sees Se-Gi leering in his mind. He gets upset and does the, “You must avoid me at all costs, I’ll never see you again” shtick.

Ri-Jin then has a weird dream where she’s a kid and jumping on a trampoline with a small boy. Suddenly the boy turns into Se-Gi she wakes up and her brother is there. Ri-Jin then calls her mother who says she sent her brother to get her if she was still not feeling well. She scolds her for telling her she went back to work without telling her. After Ri-Jin’s mother gets off the phone she and her husband shoot the shit with a guy who came to bring vegetables. The conversation turns weird when he mentions that Ri-Jin and Ri-On don’t look or act the same at all. Ri-Jin’s mother gets extremely upset and sends him and his vegetables away.

Back at the hospital Ri-Jin and Ri-On are still talking in a cafeteria where some of the doctors have gathered around watching them. One remarks that she already has another man after sending the previous one away. Another says they’re brother and sister when suddenly Sook-Hee shows up and says they’re not brother and sister because Ri-On looked at her “as a man”. So, my previous belief that they’re uncomfortable brother and sister was right. Once they realize its Sook-Hee they chase her around again. Ri-Jin asks Ri-On to analyze her dream and he says the guy, whoever it is likes her but she should avoid him because he’s a player. They go out to the parking garage and she playfully hits and stuff before he drives off, asking who this guy is she’s thinking about and making uncomfortable comments about how he wants to fuck his sister/step-stepsister.

Later on Ki-Joon and Young-Pyo have an evil meeting where they discuss their evil plots. Ri-Jin and Ho-Pil also have a meeting where they talk about how Do-Hyun’s personalities are getting stronger to the point where he can see them while he’s conscious. Apparently this has never happened before. A power struggle is happening between Do-Hyun and his alter egos… Just like the one between him and Ki-Joon. WHOA!

Tae-Im and Hwa-Ran also have an unhappy meal where Tae-Im threatens to kick her out. It shows a flashback where Hwa-Ran is talking to the comatose son of Tae-Im and tells him he can never wake up. Hwa-Ran then threatens to reveal all of the family secretes including what really happened to Do-Hyun’s mother. Of course Do-Hyun was there to hear everything but Hwa-Ran brushes him off by saying the secret was a made up threat.

Ki-Joon tells Chae-Yeon that Do-Hyun is dating a psychiatrist. She doesn’t like that, not one bit.

Do-Hyun has a hallucination in the bathroom where Se-Gi tells him that he couldn’t handle the pain from the “truth” of what really happened to him as a kid and that he took the pain from the truth instead. Do-Hyun punches the mirror.

Ri-Jin is changing the name of Se-Gi in her phone to Do-Hyun when she suddnely gets a text from him saying to meet him in the hospital lobby, however she’s shocked to find it’s Se-Gi. The episodes ends with Se-Gi woman dragging her to his car and driving really fast somewhere to “check ssomething”.

DescriptionEpisodes 3 and 4 give us more background on Seo Jin (Hyun Bin) and his relationships with his alter-ego, Robin, and his dad (played by Lee Deok Hwa and his eyebrows).

With Robin back in their lives, Seo Jin’s parents struggle to agree on what to do with their son. His mom (Kim Do Yeon) thinks the key to ensure her son’s safety is keeping him close, while his dad wants to ship him off to another country. The only thing the two can agree on is their mutual hatred of Robin. While the show remains mum on exactly why everyone around Seo Jin hates Robin, we learn that it has something to do with an incident five years ago (which was the last time Robin appeared).

Robin’s history begins to emerge, too. He has a fan club run by Min Woo Jung (Hyeri!) and used to be close with her and a coffee house/publishing company exec. He hates Dr. Kang, which is hardly surprising as she’s been trying to help Seo Jin get rid of him. One interesting point is that Robin only appears when someone summons him, which is something Seo Jin used to do. Again, while the show alludes to this fact, it doesn’t yet explain why Seo Jin used to seek Robin out. Through video messages between Seo Jin and Robin and flashbacks of Hana and Seo Jin saving each other’s lives as children, Robin realizes Hana was the person who caused him to return. He then, naturally, blabs that Seo Jin via video.

Meanwhile, the investigation into Dr. Kang’s disappearance continues. One important development in the case is we find out the identity of the man who’s been stalking Hana and, presumably, kidnapped Dr. Kang. He works as a driver for the same hospital as Kang and Dr. Sexy (aka Dr. Yoon, played by Sung Joon). His motives for being so creepy are still murky, though it might have something to do with his taking medication and possibly being crazy, idk.

Opinions

Nothing in the show so far has made me care about any of the characters. I don’t particularly like either Seo Jin or Robin, nor do I feel much for Hana. Their backstory as children still feels like a forced excuse for emotional connection. She saves him and he saves her and I don’t care.

Overall, these two episodes focused too much on Robin and Seo Jin and not enough on Hana. We still know little about her. I’m sure we’ll slowly learn her story, but I would have liked to know more about her at this point. She barely has any life outside of her interactions with Robin and her working at the circus, which itself has been included only superficially as background and a reason to have the two main characters meet.

At least the show is self-aware.

Random bits of nonsense

The episode opens with Robin and Hana escaping Wonderland’s armed goons with some AAF special effects.

I can’t stress enough how awkward this scene was.

If Robin keeps making that unnatural smile of his, I’m going to start rooting for Seo Jin and his dad. His stupid faces need to stop.

I can’t shake the image of Robin as a genie in a bottle. The whole summoning him bit reminds me too much of “Aladdin.”

I’ve heard talk from some people online that the scene with Hana in a costume trying to talk to Seo Jin was too silly. That was easily my favorite scene of the show so far.

Via Dramabeans, Suzy has passed up on the lead role in “Girl Who Sees Smells,” which is always a good thing. First, her main problem is that her fat ass takes up 80% of the screen. Second, after Big and Dream High, I never want to see her in another drama. I don’t care about acting talent one bit as long as the actor can play their character adequately and/or has enough charm as their character to keep the drama interesting. Suzy is a blackhole that sucks the life out of every scene she is in, so maybe there’s a chance I’ll check out the drama now.

As usual I went into this knowing next to nothing except the main character has multiple personality disorder, just like another drama we’re watching. In fact there’s even controversy surrounding the two dramas as the, “Jekyll, Hyde, Me” creator has accused the, “Kill Me, Heal Me” writer of stealing his idea. Of course that’s a little stupid considering the idea was already unoriginal, but I digress.

He’s a badass, can’t you tell?”

Episode 1

The first episode had some of the most unintentionally hilarious shit I’ve ever seen including some of the most cringey white people cameos. The main character, Cha Do-Hyun played by Ji Sung is living in the United States where he is a popular student and generally perfect in every way. He is a star football player and involved with the student government. All of the various school clubs try to get his support including the Goats for Africa club, The “Minority” (Gay) Club, and the Save the Alaskan Polar Bear Club. Seriously, that’s what they were.

“Please support the people who fight against the mines.”

However, Do-Hyun suffers from multiple personality disorder (MPD) and the primary one that emerges to this point is Se-Gi. When Se-Gi emerges Do-Hyun suddenly wears eyeliner, gets red tattoos, and has a trademark finger tapping thing he does. We see that while Se-Gi is a violent thug he isn’t exactly evil. Do-Hyun tries to intervene on a white guy beating the shit out of his Korean wife (you know ‘Murricans) only to get beaten up himself. However, later that night he returns as Se-Gi and returns the favor. Because of the trouble Se-Gi gets into, Do-Hyun often wakes up and finds himself in various dangerous situations such as being dunked in a big water tank.

The “Main-Character-Starts-in-a-Foreign-Country-but-Must-Return-to-Korea-to-Take-Over-the-Family-Business” trope is a tired one and unfortunately it’s used here. Do-Hyun’s grandmother is in charge of this huge business and she decides it’s time for him to return to Korea and learn the trade. I didn’t write this down while watching the first episode so I could be wrong with the details but I’m pretty sure that’s the gist of it. I forgot to mention this important detail. The cause of Do-Hyun’s mental problem is a traumatic event that occurred when he was a child. His parents were killed in a “mysterious car accident” and then his house was burnt down.

I can get behind this.

Do-Hyun really doesn’t want to go back to Korea but as Se-Gi he informs his grandmother he’ll be returning to take over the family business. While on the plane Do-Hyun asks someone seated next to him where they’re headed when suddenly the PA on the plane says to get ready to land in Incheon. Once they get off the plane we find out that the guy Do-Hyun talked to is the brother of the female lead, Oh Ri-Jin played by Hwang Jung-Eum. Ri-Jin is a young psychiatrist which is important for obvious reasons. Later on Do-Hyun arrives at his grandmother’s who makes him a vice president of ID, a company within the main company where he’ll be working under Fany’s new love, Oh Min-Seok (who we just saw in Misaeng) who plays Cha Ki-Joon, president of ID.

Ki-Joon invites Do-Hyun to a welcome party held at a club called Paradise, where you can tell almost immediately they have an icy relationship. Ki-Joon has plans to to take over the company himself. Do-Hyun isn’t allowed to drink alcohol since it encourages Se-Gi to emerge so he sits there sipping water. Ki-Joon also introduces him to a sexy employee of the company and it’s shown that Do-Hyun had a thing for her in the past.

This is from Misaeng, but he looks identical in both shows.

Meanwhile at the hospital Ri-Jin works at once of their patients escapes and leaves clues around her room where she went. Surprise, its Paradise.

As Do-Hyun mopes around the club by himself a strange woman comes up into him and tells him that she’s a psychiatrist and can tell he has issues. She gives him a card with the implication she wants to have sex with him. Do-Hyun politely declines but then the woman freaks out and says one of her insane patients just came into the club and is looking for her. It’s Ri-Jin, who sees Do-Hyun and the crazy woman and runs over to them. The crazy woman (played by Kim Seul-Gi from Surplus Princess) says that Ri-Jin is her patient while Ri-Jin says the same thing about her. Do-Hyun lets the crazy woman go because he believes her (it shows flashbacks from the airport where the dialog Ri-Jin had with her brother makes it sound like she’s crazy) and restrains Ri-Jin. Finally Ri-Jin body slams Do-Hyun to the ground and the crazy woman is captured.

Getting body slammed apparently is another trigger to make Se-Gi appear because he does just that. In the bathroom Se-Gi beats up a guy and steals his jacket. Se-Gi must always look like a bad ass.

“Being well versed on the sounds a woman makes while being raped…”

Se-Gi leaves the club and catches up with Ri-Jin. The guy who Se-Gi beat up to steal his jacket was in a gang and they suddenly appear outside the club to beat him up and take back the jacket. It wasn’t even that great of a jacket, but whatever. Se-Gi single handedly beats up the entire gang.

Afterwards, he talks to Ri-Jin who was just kind of standing there the whole time and cryptically tells her she has to “play” with him because she called him.

Episode 2

Ri-Jin manages to get away from Se-Gi by ordering him to turn around and stand there while she calls a cab to get to the hospital she works at. Se-Gi, though, steals a motorcycle and follows her there. Once there, there’s a shitload of forcible woman grabbing as Se-Gi is still trying to get Ri-Jin to “play” with him. Ri-Jin accidentally hits him in the head with a motorcycle helmet and reluctantly takes him into the hospital to patch him up. Se-Gi mentions he hates hospitals.

In the hospital Se-Gi gets a phone call for Do-Hyun and its the company secretary telling him that the psychiatrist they have been looking for who can treat Do-Hyun is conveniently in that very hospital. Se-Gi pays him a visit and trashes his office before threatening him to tell Do-Hyun to give up on treatment and not to interfere with “them”, meaning his seven various personalities or he will give a sharp blade to Yo-Sup. (One of the personalities obsessed with suicide.)

I know that M…

As Se-Gi is strangling the psychiatrist, Do-Hyun suddenly reemerges and is distraught to find what he’s doing. As the doctor recovers he explains everything that Se-Gi said and points out something “notable”. Se-Gi said he found his first love. The doctor goes on to say that with someone as fucked up and violent as Se-Gi is love and violence can be mistaken and that if Se-Gi can’t get what he wants it could put that person in grave danger. Do-Hyun mistakenly thinks that Se-Gi is in love with Chae-Yeon, the sexy employee of ID mentioned earlier who Do-Hyun had a thing for.

As Do-Hyun leaves the hospital Ri-Jin is waiting in the lobby. She hints that she’s ready to play with him now, however Do-Hyun obviously has no idea what she’s talking about and still thinks she’s a crazy person from before. He politely brushes her off thinking Chae-Yeon is in danger.

Do-Hyun meets with Chae-Yeon and needlessly fucks up any chances he might have had with her by telling her that if he ever does anything like try to see her late at night or makes any advances to run away and if he ever grabs her and won’t let her leave to beat the shit out of him. Chae-Yeon assumes he’s drunk.

ayyy…

After some crying and calling Se-Gi a bastard, Do-Hyun decides he’s going to take on the problem head on. He realizes he can’t just try to run away because Se-Gi will always bring him back. He decides to work at ID and begins preparing for a board meeting in three months. Meanwhile, he gets a bunch of gadgets and things to keep track of Se-Gi. He begins locking himself in his room every night and keeps video surveillance on himself at all times. He puts in a room where a “secret physician” can keep an eye him. Since it can’t be the Ho-Pil, the doctor he already attacked it has to be someone else. Someone who can “keep his secret to the grave”… I wonder who it could be?

Later on Ri-Jin visits her parents’ house. She has the leather jacket from the first episode, planning on returning it to Do-Hyun thinking she was simply rejected by him. Her dad, however thinks it’s a gift for him and wears it. Ri-Jin parents seem to be really cool and their house is pretty nice. Her Dad has his own beer tap and everything. They plan on having a meal and Ri-Jin’s mom tells her to get her brother who is a conspiracy/mystery writer. Ri-Jin goes to his room and looks around before seeing a fake panel in the wall. She goes to open it and the viewer can see a picture of Do-Hyun behind it. Ri-Jin’s brother suddenly appears and stops her from seeing it, however. Later that evening the two of them talk about issues and her brother brings up the fact that he lives two lives, as a writer and normal person. This makes Ri-Jin think about Do-Hyun/Se-Gi.

Back in Seoul, Do-Hyun arrives at ID Entertainment for his board meeting. In the lobby he and his grandmother come across Ki-Joon and Do-Hyun’s uncle Young-Pyo. Again, the rift between the two parties is made very obvious, with Do-Hyun’s grandmother Tae-Im warning Do-Hyun not to fall for Young-Pyo’s fake niceness. In Do-Hyun’s office, Ki-Joon pays him a visit and basically says everyone knows what’s going on. That the battle to see who will succeed as the President of Seung-Jin Group has already started and that it will be a bloodbath. Ki-Joon mentions that Do-Hyun turned into a different person that night at the club. Do-Hyun gives the worst excuse I can think of saying some friends from American contacted him. Apparently that was enough to change him into a whole new, strange person. Ki-Joon asks Do-Hyun if he did drugs in America and warns him to watch himself because this is Korea and people just don’t walk around doing drugs here. Again, Murrica.

Later that day as Ri-Jin is parking at the hospital she gets jumped by the original owner of the jacket. He takes her phone and calls Do-Hyun and threatens him to bring the jacket back or he’s going to kill “his woman”. I forgot to mention before that the jacket had drugs in it, that’s why he’s so eager to get it back. This is really ironic considering the talk Ki-Joon, don’t you think?

Do-Hyun goes back to house and tears it apart, looking for the jacket. Meanwhile, the board meeting is getting ready to start. After realizing he has no idea where the jacket is, he asks his secretary, An Gook to hit him to bring out Se-Gi. After a lot of convincing An Gook very lightly slaps Do-Hyun. but of course that isn’t enough. Eventually he socks him pretty hard in the guy and that does the trick.

However, Se-Gi doesn’t appear this time and instead we are introduced to a new personality, Perry Park.

And that ends Episode 2. This recap went on a lot longer than I thought it would but I’ll briefly give my thoughts up to this point. It’s impossible not to compare this show with Hyde, Jekyll, Me as they are strikingly similar, right down to attacked psychiatrists and the main character using mediation and relaxation techniques to keep his alternate personalities in check. While Hyde was the much more hyped show, I actually find myself enjoying this one more so far. I think the main reason is because I’m finding this story to be more exciting and interesting and the alternate personalities of the main character are much more engaging. In Hyde when he changes he basically just turns into a nicer version of himself but in Kill Me when he changes I feel Se-Gi really is a completely different person. I give Ji Sung a lot of credit for being able to pull off these different characters convincingly.

How can he?

I’m looking forward to watches episodes three and four. Having a brand new character appear right at the end of the show is a really devious way to make you want to watch the next episodes. From the preview he looks like a more comedic character which is something I think I’ll enjoy. I’m anticipating seeing how Perry Park will handle this hostage situation as well as how he’ll interact with Ri-Jin. If we are really going to get to see all seven personalities then this show should have something to check out every week.

I’m too lazy to do screencaps while watching a show, so it’ll be mostly text.

Shine or Go Crazy is the latest sageuk to hit the market, and to see Jang Hyuk back where he belongs is a blessing. He’s one of the few guys I’ll watch a drama for because his other sageuk dramas, Chuno and Tree With Deep Roots, are among my favorite Korean dramas of all time. So I went into this drama knowing next to nothing about it.

Wang So (Jang Hyuk) is the Prince of Goryeo. He had a lonely childhood, due to his cursed fate. As he grew up, he realized his talent to become a King. Wang So looks bright, but he has a wounded mind. One day, he meets Shin Yool (Oh Yeon-Seo), who is the Last Princess of Balhae. She was born with the fate of becoming the light for another country. Because of her fate, she faces death. Through a one night marriage, Wang So and Shin Yool become connected and grow to love each other.

This drama has more of a romantic pull than I had expected. I was expecting lots of action, but I like the drama how it is so far, so without further rambling, the recap.

Recap:

Wang So is the fourth prince of Goryeo, sent to live outside the palace due to his terrible destiny. As an adult, his father asks him to return to the palace to make amendments, but during the meeting, some assassins try and fail to assassinate the king. One assassin throws some daggers at the king’s room, and one dagger barely scratches the king’s neck.

After most of the assassins are slain, So and Eun Chan, one of the king’s guards, go off to China to find the assassins.

Meanwhile, Shin Yool, the last princess of Balhae, is in trouble because he brother fucked up. An old Chinese general wants to marry her in return for letting her brother off, but Yool says that she has a groom.

Cue So and Eun Chan arriving in China to find the assassin. So ends up saving Yool, and after finding out that So is Korean, she chose him as her fake groom so that she wouldn’t have to marry the old Chinese general.

So reluctantly agrees and the ceremony proceeds. So had wanted to leave right after the marriage, but some of the Chinese general’s soldiers are standing guard to make sure the newlywed couple stay together all night.

So tells Yool to put a talisman on the door after he leaves due to his unfortunate destiny. However, Yool offers her hand and says that he can change his fate by grabbing her hand, and it reminds So of what his father had said. So grabs her hand and Yool gives So a talisman as a sign of luck.

So departs and meets back up with Eun Chan. They go and find the assassin, and So uses the dagger against the assassin by cutting his forehead. The assassin panics and gets away from So and pulls out an antidote. So and Eun Chan realize that the king was poisoned, so they take the antidote from the assassin after killing him and head back to Goryeo.

Yool and her band decide that it’s too dangerous for her to stay in China and head to Goryeo.

Back in Goryeo, So meets with his father and tries to heal him with the antidote, but the doctor tells him it is too late as the poison has already spread throughout his body. The King then tells So to take over his guard in leading the soldiers and to marry Hwangbo Yeo Won (played by Honey Lee), as her family will be his shield as the opposite faction takes over the thrown.

So gets married to Hwangbo Yeo Won and assumes the role of the leader os a secret group of soldiers. Meanwhile, Yool and her band arrive in the capital of Goryeo and start living lives as merchants (?).

Five years pass and Yool is still thirsting for So’s dick, as she had fallen in love with him. That was one of the reasons she came to Goryeo, with the other being that she wanted to find out who her parents were and who she really is, as she doesn’t know she’s the last princess of Balhae at this point.

While walking through the bustling streets, the two meet eyes and then the episode ends.

Thoughts:

I didn’t really know what the drama was supposed to be about, as I didn’t really pay attention to the teasers as I knew I was going to watch the drama as soon as I knew Jang Hyuk was going to be in another sageuk.

The love story is off to a good start, but as of now, I’m more interested in So’s ascension to the throne (he wasn’t named the king when his father passed away) and Yool’s journey to finding out who she really is.

Oh, I really never thought Oh Yeon Seo was that hot until watching this drama.

Background
As Goo Seojin, Hyun Bin once again plays a rich dude with lots of issues and allusions to past trauma. Only this time, he also has dissociative identity disorder, which causes him to have an alter ego, Robin. Robin appears whenever Seojin’s “Metamorphosis Signal Point” (MSP) hits 150. Seojin has managed to keep his other self from appearing for five years, through a strict regimen of calming exercises, prayer, and hypnotherapy, administered by Dr. Kang, delightfully played by “Misaeng” actress Shin Eunjung. To keep the ol’ blood pressure down and avoid hitting his MSP, he’s also avoided all displays of human emotion and female contact.

Han Ji Min plays the oft-seen hardworking, lower-class perfect girl with a quirky occupation, which this time is circus performer. She hails from a family of circus performers, in fact.

Synopsis

The show opens with a cryptic dream that Seojin can’t decipher the meaning to, in which he saves a woman in a large performance center. It then introduces Seojin and his issues. What comes next is one of the more cringey drama scenes I’ve seen, involving a CGI gorilla on the loose in Seojin’s theme park, Wonder Land. I’ll spare everyone a play-by-play on this, but it’s awkward and mostly just serves to introduce Hana and Seojin’s cousin Seungyeon, who also works at the park and with whom he has a tense relationship.

Hana comes to Wonder Land just having returned to Korea. She takes charge when she finds out that Wonder Group CEO Seojin does not intend to renew the circus group’s contract because they suck.

Dr. Kang calls Seojin to tell him she’s found a cure-all treatment to rid him of his disorder forever. He immediately leaves to go to her office, running into Hana trying once again to get him to reconsider the circus contract. Although he tries to escape her, Hana follows Seojin to Dr. Kang’s office. There, she stumbles onto a dangerous scene, seeing the doctor beaten on the floor of her office. When she goes to examine if Dr. Kang is OK, a masked man attacks her. She tries to get away from him and attempts to grab onto Seojin for help as he gets in an elevator. Seojin jerks his hand away from her touch to avoid raising his blood pressure, but it’s too late. He stops Hana from getting in the elevator with him, but her touch turns him into Robin nonetheless. As the masked man tries to strangle Hana on the roof, Robin saves her, though not before he removes his jacket and tie, rolls up his sleeves, and unbuttons a couple shirt buttons (because having the two personalities simply act differently would be too confusing for the audience. They must look different, too.) Afterward, Seojin wakes up in the hospital with no memory of saving Hana but fears the worst when he realizes his MSP hit 150.

Hana tries to talk to Seojin about what happened, but he denies saving her. Since she doesn’t yet know about his dual personalities, she starts to walk away, confused, but suddenly notices the pendant he’s wearing. This brings her back to a time during childhood when she was saved in a similar situation by a boy wearing a pendant like that.

When Seojin’s dad hears suspicions that Robin has returned, he asks his son to leave before some upcoming inauguration. Seojin refuses, claiming he’s different than he was five years ago when Robin last appeared.

Back at the hospital, Hana gets discharged and is on her way to bug Seojin about the contract when an investigator begins questioning her about Dr. Kang. It’s revealed that the doctor has gone missing, and Hana is initially suspected of having something to do with the disappearance. This theory dies quickly, though, after Seojin reveals why Hana came to the hospital. The three go to the crime scene so Hana can describe how she came upon Dr. Kang and what happened to herself. While there, she remembers seeing the man who attacked the doctor, but can’t recall his face. It’s determined that she has short-term memory loss from the incident. Basically, PTSD.

So meta

Seojin demands Hana get hypnotherapy to help her remember the culprit’s face and help solve the mystery. Hana uses this as leverage, agreeing to get hypnotherapy if Seojin renews the circus group’s contract. He caves and takes her to the surprisingly hot Dr. Yoon, played by Sung Joon, who was Dr. Kang’s protege.

Dr. Yoon and Hana work to uncover her memories of the attack.

Meanwhile, Seojin’s dad (and his eyebrows) tries again to convince his son to leave the country before Robin appears again.

That is a convincing argument …

Seojin refuses to go before he finds Dr. Kang and tries her new treatment but promises to gtfo if, in the end, it doesn’t work.

After her sexy hypnotherapy sess with Dr. Yoon, Hana meets back up with Seojin at Wonder Land. The masked man follows her, but is prevented from directly attacking her by Seojin’s presence. Seojin then tells Hana he’s putting her into witness protection program in which he plans to watch her 24/7. As part of this, she has to obey everything he says or leave Wonder Land. She scoffs at his suggesting she leave, talking about her childhood there with her father and all her memories attached to the park. Things then take a weird turn when she asks about whether he’d so easily cast aside his memories of the place, and he flashes back to when he was kidnapped as a child with a little girl (obvs Hana) at Wonder Land. It’s the second of two weird flashbacks involving the two as children.

The two part ways, but living up to his promise, Seojin follows Hana. He suddenly realizes he’s living his own dream from the beginning of the first episode as Hana walks into a performance center. He suddenly transforms into Robin, saving Hana from death by falling disco ball.

Opinions

I’m enjoying “Jekyll, Hyde, Me” so far, though I hope it starts differentiating itself from other shows more. It’s treading all-too-familiar ground. Hyun Bin plays basically the same character he did in “Secret Garden” and “My Name is Kim Sam Soon.” The only differences are his other personality (which you could argue is similar to when he switched bodies in “Secret Garden”) and the Clue-like conservatory in his house. Han Ji Min’s strong-willed, lower-class nice girl character has appeared in many dramas, too, most notably her own “Rooftop Prince.”

My biggest complaint is the inclusion of the “past history trope,” where it’s revealed that the male and female leads had met before as children but don’t realize that yet. No kdrama trope makes me want to vomit more. It’s always done in the most overly sentimental way.

As far as the acting goes, the two leads carry the show so far, though that’s not a surprise. The secondary characters are mostly flat at this point, with the exceptions of Drs. Kang and Yoon. I hope the other characters, particularly the other circus performers, get to develop, too. I hate when shows focus solely on the two main characters and don’t give the other characters any depth. Too many times, the secondary and tertiary characters are merely plot drivers, or worse, props.

Random bits of nonsense

I want to know why Seojin and everyone around him hates Robin so much. The show’s been vague on this point. The most anyone’s said was when his dad expressed unhappiness not knowing where Robin would go or who he hung with. My guess is Robin either fell in love with some woman and wanted to give away all Wonder Group’s money or that Robin just wanted to shirk his CEO duties to be in the circus. I only have the latter theory because at one point in the second ep, he escapes some company thugs through gymnastic means. Minafriend also wondered whether Robin was Seojin’s original persona but his family created the Seojin personality to keep him away. I could totally see that, too.

Seojin’s damn pendant bugs me. It reminds me too much of the “Dream High 2” pendant, which itself just copied the “Hunger Games” pendant. This one rips off the “Hunger Games” pendant even more than DH2, actually.

The pendants — “Hunger Games,” “Dream High 2,” and “Jekyll, Hyde, Me”

Seojin is CEO of Wonder Group, which reminds me a little two much of Winner Group from the underwhelming “Birth of a Beauty.”

I think the most important question at this point is “Where the hell is Hyeri?”

]]>https://clubkdrama.wordpress.com/2015/01/25/recap-jekyll-hyde-me-ep-1-2/feed/5thefanypacksource: imgur.comsource: imgur.comsource: imgur.comsource: imgur.comsource: imgur.comsource: imgur.comsource: imgur.comHong Sisters Returning to MBC with a New Dramahttps://clubkdrama.wordpress.com/2015/01/23/hong-sisters-returning-to-mbc-with-a-new-drama/
https://clubkdrama.wordpress.com/2015/01/23/hong-sisters-returning-to-mbc-with-a-new-drama/#commentsFri, 23 Jan 2015 21:38:10 +0000http://clubkdrama.wordpress.com/?p=32Continue reading Hong Sisters Returning to MBC with a New Drama]]>The Hong Sisters will be returning to MBC for the first time in four years with a new drama, Isplus has reported. Although no details have yet emerged there is already much speculation about who could be cast in it.

The Hong Sisters were behind two of my favorite dramas, Fantasy Couple and My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox. While it probably wouldn’t be the most shocking or exciting return, I’m hoping for a good old-fashioned romcom with some fantasy elements thrown in. Basically, Gumiho 2.0.

Or perhaps this could be a reunion with Han Ye Seul. I don’t think anyone would complain about that. So basically I’m really boring and hoping for a rehash of their earlier work.

Hogu’s Love is an upcoming drama for tvN that will premiere next month. I am excited for it, mainly because the concept of the show flips the usual K-drama romcom formula and the fact that it’s airing on tvN.

The drama stars Choi Woo Shik (Rooftop Prince) and UEE. Choi Woo Shik plays the titular Hogu who chases after Dohee (UEE), his first crush and seemingly perfect woman. In addition, Dohee is a swimmer…SO THIS DRAMA BETTER NOT SKIMP OUT ON THE SWIMMING SCENES AND DENY US OF SEEING UEE IN A SWIMSUIT!

Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one who thinks UEE is hot, but fuck the rest of the world.

Anyway, based on the teaser, this drama seems like it will be fun. UEE plays a bitch, a character she is pretty good at, and Choi Woo Shik plays the beta male that would do anything to sniff UEE’s panties. It is nice that for a change the male character isn’t a perfect chaebol and the girl is a poor girl who “needs rescuing.”

]]>https://clubkdrama.wordpress.com/2015/01/23/hogus-love-teasers/feed/3seultoriaMisaeng, We-sang (Spoilers)https://clubkdrama.wordpress.com/2015/01/23/misaeng-we-sang-spoilers/
https://clubkdrama.wordpress.com/2015/01/23/misaeng-we-sang-spoilers/#commentsFri, 23 Jan 2015 01:07:20 +0000http://clubkdrama.wordpress.com/?p=18Continue reading Misaeng, We-sang (Spoilers)]]>Having just finished Misaeng, I suppose I can get the ball rolling with a general post on the show. We went into it not really knowing anything about what the show was actually like. Basically all we knew was that Kang So-Ra was in it and that guy from ZE:A. One thing about Fany and I is that we almost exclusively watch romcoms so Misaeng was a pretty big change in that regard as this is a straight drama. There is a tiny bit of romance in the show but it’s not even really worth talking about.

While Jang Geu-Rae (played by Siwan of ZE:A) is the “main” character, the show primarily revolves around four characters including him, and their trials and tribulations as they experience life in a multi-national corporation for the first time. Jang Geu-Rae as mentioned before is the main character but the show spends pretty equal time following the other three around. Kang So-Ra plays An Young-Yi who winds up on the Resource team and must constantly cope with working in an extremely misogynistic work environment. Kang Ha-Neul plays Jang Baek-Ki on the Steel team who is an overly confident person whose always thinking he knows best and deserves more causes him to clash his assistant manager. Byun Yo-Han plays Han Suk-Yool with the Textile team who is the comic relief in the series, however his relationship with his assistant manager is probably the worst of any of the four. Unlike the other three Suk-Yool’s boss really isn’t looking out for him or trying to teach him how to be a better worker. Instead, he is always going out at night and piling his work on Suk-Yool who comes to truly hate him as he always get blamed when things aren’t getting done.

And then there’s Jang Geu-Rae. While the others got into the One International (the name of the company) through college or work, Jang Geu-Rae entered as basically the Executive DIrector’s parachute , or nepotism. I felt this wasn’t really fully explained in the show and I’m still not exactly sure exactly how that connection went. At any rate Geu-Rae’s relationship with his manager starts pretty badly as Oh Sang-Sik, played by Lee Sung-Min hates the fact that a newbie was dumped onto him by virtue of being the ED’s parachute. It also quickly becomes apparent that the ED and Sang-Sik do not get along because of some past drama.

The relationship between the four newbies takes center stage throughout the show as the viewer sees how each matures and grows in their respective teams as well as how their relationship changes with each other. From the beginning Young-Yi and Geu-Rae hit it off and become good friends. However, Geu-Rae and Suk-Yool don’t initially start off as friends and in fact get in a fight. Baek-Ki also resents Geu-Rae at first for similar reasons that Sang-Shik does. However, as times goes on the bond between the four grows and by the end they are good friends.

Overall I liked the show. I feel like Lee Sung-Min definitely carries the show and really is able to pull off the look of someone who hasn’t slept in 5 days and is in a constant hangover. If I were to grade it on a scale of 1-10 I would probably give it an 8 to 8.5. Again, I almost always watch romcoms so to me it was different watching a show with no romance and almost not jokes. This is primarily a character driven show and in that regard it did quite well. The growth in each of the characters is evident with how they handle situations compared to the beginning and end. The plot points were nicely executed and strung me along in such a way that I always wanted to watch the next episode to see what would happen. Of course this is the same with almost every drama but I felt it was particularly effective here. The soundtrack was also pretty good with one particular song that played whenever anything inspirational was going on being the best song.

A couple things I didn’t like about the show. For one, Geu-Rae used to be a star Baduk (Go) player and in the first half to 3/4ths of the show this was a major plot point. Geu-Rae basically looked at life like a game of Baduk, however for some reason this abruptly stops. The ED gives an open invitation for Geu-Rae to play him in his office and I thought that would be a big thing but it never happened. At another point later in the show Geu-Rae in an act of desperation hits up his old Baduk teacher to sell him something as part of a mission but nothing comes of that either. After that, all mentions of Baduk are pretty much finished. Maybe it was to show that Geu-Rae had outgrown or moved past that part of his life?

Another thing, and this isn’t really the show’s fault, but I felt a lot of the translations were either off or not written in a way that a non-native Korean speaker would understand. An example of this is when Geu-Rae receives a Christmas card from his boss. The text technically is readable in English but it doesn’t make sense. This is a pretty big moment in the show and I feel it would have been better if the subbers wrote it in a way that would make the most sense as opposed to a direct literal translation. Also in several key moments a character would either be reading something on a computer or on a phone etc. and there wouldn’t be a translation of what they were reading. This was quite annoying as several times what they were reading was important to the story .

Finally the ending was just… What? Misaeng is one of those shows where the first scene actually takes place at the end of the show. So, it shows something happening and then we have to watch all 20 episodes to find out how the characters got to that point. Well, it all comes down to this wild goose chase in Jordan with Sang-Sik acting as Indiana Jones and waxing poetic about ancient traders in front of Al Khazneh. Just, what? Then they’re threatening to torture the guy who stole from them in a tent and something about the Russian Mafia. I mean this was the first time when I would have actually preferred the trope where it just flash forwards 10 years into the future to show what everyone is doing. I guess since the show was so subdued for 99% of it they just felt the need to cut-loose in the end.

Probably my biggest problem though is that we simply don’t get any closure on 3/4ths of the main characters. Sang-Sik has to resign his position at One International but he starts a new one up with his old Department Head. It’s great. He goes out and recruits Geu-Rae who ends up not getting a permanent position at One International and Sang-Sik’s old assistant manager Dong-Sik comes by and it’s like they have the old band back together again. However, what exactly happens with the other three main characters as well as the fourth member of their team at 1H, Manager Cheon? It’s a really glaring omission and I wish they would have focused on that instead of suddenly turning an office drama into an action show with the last 45 minutes.

I know I’ve gone on for some time complaining about the show but the truth is I did ultimately really enjoy it. Again, given my usual tastes, the fact I stuck it out for the whole series in a decent amount of time must count for something.